Which Eunice Hayes married John St John?

+4 votes
195 views
There were two Eunice Hayeses.

One was a daughter of James and born 1705.

One was a daughter of Isaac and born 1704.

One married John St John.

The other Eunice m1 William Fowler Jr and m2 Stephen Baldwin.

Right now we have the two Eunices attached to father Isaac Hayes, but only one of those can be right.

Need help from researchers familiar with  Connecticut records -- probate of the two fathers, perhaps? who can help solve this dilemma.

The 19th century St John genealogy names both daughters as a possibility without choosing a preference.

The Baldwin genealogy just calls her Eunice Fowler which was her widowed name.

Your help is appreciated.
WikiTree profile: Eunice St. John
in Genealogy Help by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (896k points)
edited by Jillaine Smith

Here is Eunice daughter of James. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hayes-872

One of the other two Eunices is probably her. 

James Hayes has a will recorded in the Fairfield County probate Records, liber 1724-1749, pp. 429 and 430.  Are these online? 

This derivative unsourced manuscript claims Eunice St John was dau of Isaac:

North American Cemetery Transcriptions from NEHGS Manuscripts, 1642-1977. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016.)

https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1675/i/53955/10/1424343502

Except that after Isaac's death, his wife would have moved to Milford with Andrew Sanford. I looked for probate for Elizabeth and Andrew Sanford, but didn't find any.
This might only be resolved by mtDNA and there are no clear paths for that right now.

1 Answer

+3 votes
James Hayes' will lists the daughters, including Eunice but gives them no last names. There are no receipts or anything else in the file to help.
by Anne B G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)
Isaac died intestate when his children were still young. They are all called Hayes. Interesting: One of the documents mentions their names and lists their actual birth dates, not just their ages (which is usual)
Eunice Hayes m. 29 Apr 1724 John St. John in Wilton, CT

Eunice Hayes m. 1 Apr 1724 William Fowler in Milford.

Elizabeth (Sherwood) Hayes, widow of Isaac, m. (2) Andrew Sanford of Milford abt 1713. Eunice d/o Isaac is probably the Eunice who m. William Fowler.
Thanks for your help, Anne. I was hoping the wills would identify the married names of the daughters, but it looks like they were still single at the time of their father's death. sigh.

I'm leaning towards your interpretation as well but I would really like to be able to make a stronger case for it. I need to now compare the residences of James and Isaac.
Harrumph. They both lived in Norwalk...
Except that after Isaac's death, his wife would have moved to Milford with Andrew Sanford. I looked for probate for Elizabeth and Andrew Sanford, but didn't find any.
There's a 23 Apr 1747 death date for Eunice Hayes St John that if accurate might exclude her from being daughter of James who wrote his will ?? April 1747; proved the following October. Anne can you check for a specific will date on James? And is there any reference to the children in the post-will probate records?

Also I'm trying to find confirmation of Eunice's death date. It's from the St John genealogy and I could not easily find independent evidence for it.  We know she was dead by 1749 when John St John remarried.
There was no date it just said April. And there were no follow up documents in the file.

Anne, you wrote "Eunice d/o Isaac is probably the Eunice who m. William Fowler." what leads you to that? I was leaning in that direction as well but now am not so sure. 

Because Isaac's widow remarried a man (Sanford) from Milford, so it makes sense that a child, Eunice, would have married in Milford.

Norwalk (James' home) to Wilton is about 15 miles

Norwalk to Milford (m. of Eunice to Fowler and home of Isaac's widow) is about 45
Thanks, Anne. I was having difficulty wrapping my head around all that. You laid it out nicely.

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